CHAPTER 136: THE ACADEMY ARRANGEMENT

"Tell my father I will be taking the young man who saved me to the academy to repay him for saving my life," Helen said, handing the armored knight a sealed letter.

"What if he demands your return, to see your condition?" the knight asked, his weathered face creasing with concern.

"Just hand him the letter. Everything he needs to know is in there. Now go." She dismissed him with an imperious wave, though her eyes flickered toward the young man stood silently beside her, his dark head hung low in apparent humility.

"Pardon my insistence, my lady, but..." The knight hesitated, his hand tightening on his sword hilt. "Would you be taking him in as a servant?" His brow furrowed with suspicion—something wasn’t right about this entire situation, and he couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling gnawing at his chest. At first, he’d suspected she was being controlled, given how bizarre the circumstances were, but with time that thought had faded. Still, something about this young man set his teeth on edge.

"Poltrien." The single word cut through the air like a blade, and the knight realized his mistake immediately.

"My lady," he said, his head bowing low as he clenched his fist.

"GET. THE. LETTER. TO. MY. FATHER." She emphasized each word.

"As you wish, my lady," he replied stiffly. With a sharp click, the door closed behind him.

Helen sighed deeply, stretching across the polished wooden table as she closed her eyes, suddenly looking far older than her years.

Step. Step. Step.

The young man rose and walked toward the door with measured strides. Reaching it, he turned the lock with deliberate care, then pivoted to face the stunning young lady with her cascade of golden blonde hair and striking peach-colored eyes.

"Good job, Helen," he said, his smile so perfectly crafted that most people would swear it belonged to the devil himself.

"Thank you... master," she replied, straightening in her chair with visible effort.

"Hmm?" He approached her slowly, each footfall echoing in the suddenly oppressive silence. Reaching out, he lifted her chin with gentle fingers, forcing her to meet his gaze.

As much as she wanted to deny it, he was devastatingly handsome—a fact that annoyed her beyond measure. Something so beautiful shouldn’t harbor such a sinister mind. So annoyingly, irritatingly intelligent. She still couldn’t fathom how he’d predicted the guards would arrive that day.

He’d given her orders on the spot: behave normally, like she was recovering after being saved from bandits by an "extremely handsome young man" (yes, he’d insisted she say it exactly that way—she’d cringed internally at every word). According to their fabricated story, he was one of the bandits’ victims who, in a moment of desperate chance, had killed one of his captors, sparking chaos that allowed the other prisoners to escape.

The tale cleverly made it seem as if she hadn’t been specifically targeted—which was obviously far from the truth. She had to admit, grudgingly, that the story held together remarkably well. He’d even crafted believable explanations for how they’d slipped into town unnoticed, and had ’requested’ his reward with such calculated politeness that it aligned perfectly with her own needs. After all, she needed him close at the academy if she had any hope of breaking this cursed soul bind... if such a thing was even possible.

"What?" she asked, unnerved by his intense scrutiny. I know I’m irresistible, but could he at least not make it so obvious he’s hopelessly in love with me? she thought with shameless vanity.

It would be the greatest understatement in existence to call her merely ’a little’ narcissistic. She was utterly, hopelessly vain.

"Call me... Riley," he said quietly.

He refused to answer to Yuriel anymore. That name belonged to the slave he’d once been—a part of his past he had no intention of remembering.

"Riley? Is that your name?" She frowned, studying his face for any hint of deception.

"It is now." He released her chin, stepping back with that infuriating calm. "And to be clear—I have no feelings for you whatsoever, it would be stupid if I did, anyway. So get your head out of the clouds." His soft chuckle revealed that he could read her like an open book; he’d noticed how she’d involuntarily leaned into his touch.

A spoiled princess. It was pathetically easy to see how she placed herself on that pedestal.

By every frustrating god in existence, she despised his attitude! The way he looked down on her with such casual dismissal ignited a rage that burned beyond all reason. Her? HER?! A high-ranking noble that people would die just to glimpse?

I swear on everything I love, I will kill him! She ground her teeth internally while maintaining her mask of indifference. She couldn’t afford to give him more ammunition to make this nightmare worse. Her obedience was temporary—a calculated necessity. The moment she broke this accursed bind, she would deliver pain on an inhuman scale.

"Tsk." The sound escaped her lips before she could stop it.

Knock. Knock.

Her head snapped toward the door.

"Who is it?" she called, quickly schooling her expression back into one of noble propriety.

"My lady, Sir Edner wishes to see you," came the muffled voice from beyond the door.

Her eyes widened in recognition, and she caught Riley’s whispered instruction beside her.

"Let him in," she commanded, watching as Riley unlocked the door before returning to stand beside her chair. His head hung low in that perfectly crafted display of subservience that never failed to irritate her. She hated how effortlessly he fooled everyone with that act.

If one looked closely enough, they might catch the insidious grin playing at the corners of his mouth. He’d obviously guessed who this Edner was, and for reasons he himself couldn’t tell, he seemed genuinely excited to meet the man who he had handed a green hat.

One thing was becoming terrifyingly clear—he had absolutely no intention of breaking their bond. He was as sinister as they came.